GRUPPENRESERVIERUNGEN

Guy LaliberteFounder

Guy Laliberté was born in Québec City in 1959. An accordionist, stilt-walker and fire-eater, he founded Québec's first internationally-renowned circus with the support of a small group of accomplices. A bold visionary, Guy Laliberté recognized and cultivated the talents of the street performers from the Fête Foraine de Baie-Saint-Paul and created Cirque du Soleil in 1984.

Gilles Ste-Croixartistic guide

When Gilles Ste-Croix first told his parents he wanted to go into show business they said, “Anything but that!” Ste-Croix grew up in rural Québec, but he was determined not to stay there. He became a hippie and a nomad, living in communes and making the obligatory ‘60s pilgrimage to the West Coast where he audited some drama classes. Ste-Croix participated in the founding of Cirque du Soleil after organizing the Fête Foraine de Baie-Saint-Paul in 1980.

Set Design

The overall aesthetics were inspired by the Art Nouveau movement of the last century, as well as the works of Gaudí and Klimt, while many of the organic shapes in the set elements are a nod to the master French glassmaker and jeweler René Lalique. More perceptive observers will notice these influences in the design of the acrobatic equipment – especially in the lines at their extremities.

Keen observers will also note that the shape of the hole through which Zark makes his first entrance reproduces the outline of Manhattan, while the moon above the stage marks the exact position of Radio City Music Hall.

Image & Video Content

The complex video content of the show was developed with a cinematic approach and plays an integral role in the storytelling. The goal was to bring maximum credibility to this strange parallel world through lifelike moving images on an enormous LED wall at the rear of the set, and projections on the second of three arches that react to the movements of the performers.

Light Wall

There are more than three million pixels of LEDs on the 90ft by 40ft light wall upstage and the LED arch made of of 118 separate panels. This setup allows for the larger-than-life cinematic tableaux that lend the surreal world of Zarkana a heightened sense of reality.

Trapeze

The cradle stations used in the flying trapeze act do not employ steel cables to keep them in position. They rely entirely on "hanger tubes" for their rigidity. The structure of the high wire number installed on the floor of the theatre’s orchestra pit is freestanding, without any anchor points.

Bandstands

The two Eagle’s-head bandstands that house the musicians on either side of the stage are 28ft tall and weigh more than 9,000 pounds each.

Costume ThemesA modern twist on the 1920s and 1930s

The characters in Zarkana inhabit a surreal world inspired by the American circus sideshows that flourished in the 1930s and the spirit of the golden age of Coney Island. The overall visual aesthetic of their costumes – 250 in all – is a modern take on the look of the 1920s, the 1930s and the Art Deco movement.

Red and pinkSymbols of love and passion

Flowers are important to the overall color scheme and design motifs of the costumes, and the reds and pinks of roses play a particularly significant symbolic role in the show, representing the love and passion between Zark and Lia – the only characters dressed predominantly in red.

Fabrics and printing

To create the costumes for Zarkana’s quirky crew of oddball characters and acrobats, Alan worked with a wide range of synthetic fabrics such as polyester, and neoprene, and specialized color printing techniques such as sublimation, many of which were developed by the innovators in the Cirque du Soleil costume workshop.

Tarantula

Tarantula, the spider-woman mutant’s costume suggests all of the perceived danger in her arachnid identity. Her spider legs are extensions to her costume that are attached to the mechanism that allows her to descend to the stage from the ceiling.

Jovians

The costumes of the extraterrestrial Jovians were originally inspired by a fictitious tribe that lived off the bounty of the sea. When they went fishing, they wore costumes that made them look like fish to fool their prey. The Jovians’ costumes are made of double-laminated Lycra and decorated with bubbles that represent the foam excreted by the fish.